Microsoft has been gradually coming to terms with the notion that its operating system and the software that runs on it is notoriously insecure. In the wake of numerous rounds of viruses, worms and other plagues, it has pledged to drastically improve its software and security methods. By reallocating resources away from product development to security, effort is taken away from producing new products, like Longhorn and SQL Server, and will thus further delay ship dates

Notably, Microsoft said last week that key updates to its developer tools and to its SQL Server database will be postponed until next year, a move that has the potential to delay a number of other Microsoft software programs whose development is linked to those programs. There is also concern that Microsoft's work on Longhorn-- the next version of Windows--will be further delayed or scaled back. [Microsoft Senior VP Bob Muglia] said the company has not lost its drive to take on big projects like Longhorn. "We're still pretty ambitious," he said. Muglia said that more than half of the resources on the Windows team are still going toward Longhorn, though more effort than originally planned is going into improving existing versions.

While this delay may seem like a bad thing to some, others would argue that the security of Windows is a far more important goal especially in light of all the recent viruses and cyber attacks. What good is a new and improved product with new features if it is no more secure as its predecessor? All the negative press on (the lack of) security may actually be affecting Microsoft's bottom line as well.:

Security flaws in Microsoft products have left many companies susceptible to Internet-borne viruses and worms, and Microsoft executives have said the flaws have caused some customers to delay purchasing plans for its business software.

While not quite between a rock and a hard place, Microsoft's decision to stick it out and focus on security could even be called admirable (although that is admittedly a bit of a stretch.) At the very least, the delay in ship dates of products like Longhorn will benefit most of us because we will be able to get more mileage out of our current hardware before we need to upgrade to handle Microsoft's next generation of bloated improved software.

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